In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jeremy Strong relitigates the New Yorker profile about him that went viral last December, following his assertion to Vanity Fair earlier this month that the article “felt like a pretty profound betrayal of trust.” Michael Schulman’s in-depth report on the actor and his on-set eccentricities propelled the Succession star to the center of the Method acting discourse, despite the fact that he doesn’t consider himself to be a Method actor and has never put a dead rat in the mail.
“I kind of want to put this whole thing to rest and just get on with the work,” Strong tells THR. “I don’t want to throw any kindling on a fire. [Schulman’s] perspective was valid. I’m sure he felt that it was a well-balanced and objective forensic examination.”
Strong is specifically asked to weigh in on the anecdote from the New Yorker profile in which he disagrees with co-star Kieran Culkin about the level of humor in Succession; series creator Jesse Armstrong is a veteran of projects like In The Loop and Veep, and he certainly hasn’t lost his touch for profanity-laden, over-the-top insults.
“Sometimes when I read it, I can’t stop laughing,” he says. “Of course it’s a comedy. It’s a comedy, it’s a satire, it’s a tragedy. What I meant more was that I don’t treat it as a comedy in my lane. We’re all co-existing in the piece. I’m never trying to make a joke. I’m not on a sitcom. I’m investing in the reality of those given circumstances and treating it the way I would treat a drama.”
Strong also addresses his Succession co-stars’ concerns about his intense approach to getting into character, which involves refraining from socializing with the rest of the cast in order to mimic Kendall Roy’s isolation. While hurt by the comments, he gets the criticism.
“We’re a family in every sense of the word,” he says. “But foundationally, there’s deep respect and even love.”
Of course, the new interview still opens up more details about his process, such as asking his Armageddon Time writer/director James Gray to fill out the Proust Questionnaire as Strong’s character. His habit of staying in costume off-set comes up again, as THR notes that he’ll keep Kendall’s baseball cap on hand until filming concludes on the fourth season of Succession.
“Jeremy has such a tremendous intellect without being pretentious,” Gray says. “He’s a genuine artist, someone really interested in digesting, absorbing and diving into the work. He’s my kind of actor, which is that on the set, there are no rules. On the set, we go as deep as we possibly can. On the set, it’s our time to explore. I think people who make fun of, ‘Oh, so-and-so is a method actor. Ha-ha-ha!’ — I think that’s an excuse to be lazy.”
While some people may disagree about the pretentiousness thing, there’s no denying that Strong’s efforts have paid off. Succession has become one of HBO’s most beloved shows, and he scored an Emmy for his role as the Waystar Royco heir in 2020 before being nominated again this year.
Armageddon Time co-star Anne Hathaway, who rushed to defend him after the New Yorker profile was published last year, says that the actor helped her “not to apologize for being uncompromising, specific and detailed.” The two previously worked together on 2019's Serenity.
Strong says that this is the last time he’ll talk about the New Yorker piece, but his conversation with THR took place before Brian Cox slammed Method acting again at TIFF, so who knows! Armageddon Time hits theaters on November 11.